Fisheries Office Order No. 031 Series of 2021 on Proposed Philippine IUU Fishing Index and Threat Assessment Tool and Its Finalization, Adoption and Roll-Out

~tl• .... "'t(i~ #~ 1,•,•, "G.c. Republic of the Philippines ~~ H~~ Department of Agriculture ~ "f..f?~ Bureau of Fisherie~ and Aquatic Resources lnf{\\ /'/f PCA Building, Elliptical Road, Diliman, Quezon City ,.,. Tel. No. (02) 929-83-90 * (02) 929-64-84 15 January 2021 FISHERIES OFFJC)i / ORDER NO. U~ Series of 202-1 -~ ..... , SUBJECT PROPOSED PHILIPPINE IUU FISHING INDEX AND THREAT ASSESSMENT TOOL AND ITS FINALIZATION, ADOPTION AND ROLL-OUT • In order to assess and track our progress in reducing and eliminating IUU fishing in the country as mandated by the Philippine Fisheries Code, as amende.d (RA 8550, as amended by RA 10654), the following concerned offices are hereby directed to work together and coordinate with our development partner USAID Fish Right Program, a government-to-government partnership on sustainable fisheries and marine biodiversity conservation , to (a) further develop and refine the first draft of the Philippine IUU Fishing Index and Threat Assessment Tool developed thru the USAID Fish Right Program (Annexes A & B: Version 1.0), and (b) thereafter adopt and roll-out the PHL IUU Framework and Index and in particular, to do the following: 1) Central Office. The Office of the Director, through the Focal Person for Enforcement and the West Philippine Sea (WPS) and the Fisheries Protection and Law Enforcement Group (FPLEG), the Fisheries Resources Management Division (FRMD), the Fisheries Regulatory and Licensing Division (FRLD), and the Legal Division and such relevant office/officer as may be designated thereafter shall coordinate with USAID Fish Right Program to: ' (a) further develop and refine the draft version of the Philippine IUU Fishing Index and Threat Assessment Tool , including gathering inputs from the various offices from the Central, Regional and Provincial Offices, and towards its finalization on or before 31 January 2021 ; (b) finalize, adopt and roll-out, including a road map for institutionalizing the Philippine IUU Fishing Index and Threat Assessment Tool Version 1 to the BFAR Central and Regional Offices for thei r use for a standardized and comparable assessment of IUU fishing in the country, using a nested approach starting from the coastal cities and municipalities, then to fisheries management areas and then covering the entire Philippine waters; (c) with the FPLEG and the FRLD as lead, collate, and make available the results of the assessment from the concerned central and regional offices to policy makers, planners and stakeholders to inform planning, budgeting and decision making on or before 1 July 2021 as a preliminary assessment to inform the planning and budgeting for 2022; and thereafter complete the assessment on or before the end of December 2021 and every two years thereafter; (d) use results of the assessment to guide and inform planning for targeted response and strategies to address IUU fishing, adopting a whole-of-agency approach, and where feasible, in coordination with other national government agencies and local government units, recommend strategies following a whole of-government or even a whole-of-society approach; (e) continue to enhance and/or update a·nd create a second version, following an iterative process, as may be needed; (f) tap existing or create working groups or sub-working groups as may be necessary and appropriate pursuant to this directive; and (g) perform such other tasks as may be necessary and appropriate to accomplish the objectives of this directive. • 2) Regional Fisheries Office. The Regional Director, together with the Fisheries Management, Regulatory and Enforcement Division (FMRED), and the Fisheries Protection and Law Enforcement Group (FPLEG) shall work with the Central Office and USAID Fish Right Program to support the finalization, adoptiDn and roll-out of the Philippine IUU Fishing Index and Threat Assessment Tool by: a) providing inputs to the draft version of the Philippine IUU Fishing Index and Threat Assessment Tool; b) testing the use, and/or, once finalized and adopted by 15 February 2021, using the Philippine IUU Fishing Index and Threat Assessment Tool to estimate the vulnerability to, prevalence of and responses to' IUU fishing within its areas of responsibilities, through the Provincial Fishery Office (PFO) and where feasible, through the fishery management area (FMA); c) supporting the PFO as they roll-out of the Philippine IUU Fishing Index and Threat Assessment Tool to the coastal cities and municipal ities, as may be necessary and appropriate d) collating results of assessment done by the PFO, work with concerned BFAR Regional Offices with which they share FMAs and collate results for the FMA, where already feasible, and submit these collated results from the PFOs and for the FMA to the BFARCentral Office, through the FPLEG and the FRLD, on or before 15 June 2021 as a preliminary assessment to inform the planning and budgeting for 2022; and thereafter complete the assessment on or before the end of December 2021 and every two years thereafter; e) performing such other tasks as may be necessary and appropriate to accomplish the objectives of this directive. 3) Provincial Fisheries Office. All Provincial Fisheries Officers (PFOs) shall work with the Central Office, BFAR Regional Office and USAID Fish Right Program to support the finalization, adoption and roll-out of the Philippine IUU Fishing Index and Threat Assessment Tool by: a) providing inputs to the draft version of the Philippine IUU Fishing Index and Threat Assessment Tool; 2 b) coordinating with the coastal cities and municipalities within their areas of· responsibility to test the use, and/or, once finalized and adopted by 15 February 2021, use the Phil ippine IUU Fishing Index and Threat Assessment Tool to estimate the vulnerability to, prevalence of and responses to IUU fishinf.J with their respective municipal waters; c) supporting the coastal cities and municipalities, through their Municipc-1I/City Agricultural Officer, Environment Officer, and/or Fishery Technician to use the Philippine IUU Fishing Index and Threat Assessment Tool; d) accomplishing the assessment of IUU fishing using the Philippine IUU Fishing Index and Threat Assessment Tool in coastal cities and municipalities tha t may be unable to do the same on their own; e) collating results of assessment done by the coastal cities and municipalities or accomplished by the PFO themselves and submitting these collated results to the BFAR Regional Office on or before 31 May 2021 as a preliminary assessment to inform the planning and budgeting for 2022; and thereafter complete the assessment on or before the end of December-2021 and every two years thereafter; f) performing such other tasks as may be necessary and appropriate to accomplish the objectives of this directive. All BFAR officials and staff, including the Fisheries Planning and Economics Division (FPED) and the Fisheries Information and Management Center (FIMC) , the Information and Public Relations Group (IPRG), and their counterparts in the field offices, are hereby enjoined to support the activities towards the adoption and roll-out of the Phi lippine IUU Fishing Index and Threat Assessment Tool. All BFAR officials and staff, led by the Fisheries Protection and Law Enforcement Group (FPLEG) and Fisheries Planning and Economics Division (FPED), are enjoined to use the results of the assessment of IUU fishing to develop policies, programs and plans to address IUU fishing, following a whole of agency approach, and where feasible, in coordination with , other national government agencies and local government units, a whole of government or even a whole of society approach. This Order takes effect immediately and shall remain in force until revoked in writing. All Orders/Memoranda and other issuances inconsistent herewith are hereby deemed revoked. 3